Saudi Sale

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress of a possible billion-dollar military aircraft support sale to Saudi Arabia.

According to the Aug. 23 DSCA statement:

The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of follow-on support and services for Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) aircraft, engines and weapons, to include contractor technical services, logistics support, maintenance support, spares, equipment repair, expendables, support and test equipment, communication support, precision measuring equipment, personnel training and training equipment, technical support, exercises, deployments and other related elements of program support services, U.S. Government and contractor technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated cost is $1.2 billion.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia needs this follow on maintenance and logistical support to sustain the combat and operational readiness of its existing aircraft fleet.

The proposed sale of this support and services will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

Inside the Air Force reported last week that the U.S. Air Force had begun training Saudi air force pilots to fly joint missions with the United States military.

The Air Force expects to complete the first round of instruction by the end of 2014, according to the subcontractor tasked with overseeing the education program. Further:

Salient Federal Solutions, a company that specializes in supplying information technology, engineering and intelligence analytic services to the defense and intelligence industries, was awarded a $4.4 million pilot training subcontract in March, according to Scott Seavers, the company's vice president of training and international programs. Seavers told Inside the Air Force in an Aug. 21 email that Salient is training the Royal Saudi air force (RSAF) pilots to fly side-by-side with U.S. Air Force pilots in operational flying squadrons comprised of F-15 fighter jets.

For the past few months, U.S. pilots have been in Saudia Arabia training RSAF pilots at various bases, Seavers said. Typically, only one student pilot flies during any given mission, he said.

By training the Saudi pilots to conduct joint missions, Salient will be "improving the RSAF interoperability with U.S. and other friendly forces to enhance regional stability in accordance with U.S. military objectives," according to an Aug. 20 company statement. Salient has been pairing one RSAF pilot with one Air Force pilot per mission, Seavers said. In all, there are 11 Air Force pilots who are participating in the program, he said.